After an accident, the insurance company is going to do everything it can to get you to settle and settle quickly. By putting on the pressure, you feel like it’s best to take their offer and you don’t have time to research your options, including what an injury like yours may cost over time.
An attorney can help you decide if a settlement offer is fair and reasonable for your case. If an attorney helps you in the process, the settlement process begins with a demand letter. Your attorney will help you determine the amount you feel you should receive to cope with your injuries. This should include medical expenses, lost wages, medications, rehab, and lost future earnings and earning ability. You can even include damages for pain and suffering due to your accident. Once you determine this number, you send it to the insurance company and they can either accept or counter it.
If they counter it, you need to take a look at their counter offer and compare it to your original offer. Where do the offers differ? How are they similar? Where did the adjuster make cuts to your offer? Determine if these cuts are appropriate or not.
Once you and your attorney carefully analyze the counter offer, you can either accept it or counter again. When you counter, you’ll need to explain your counter and support the amounts that you originally proposed with numbers, such as the cost of future rehab, medications, or the costs adaptive equipment for your home. You’ll want to send this counteroffer directly to your claims representative.
At Bouchillon, Crossan & Colburn, L.C., our attorneys have more than 35 40 years dedicated to giving clients the attention, advice, support and empowerment they need to effectively meet their goals. We are committed to the principle that all persons shall have equal justice under the law. If you or a loved one has been injured and is seeking a qualified personal injury attorney, contact our Huntington, West Virginia office to speak with an attorney about your case, or call 304-521-4636.